Red Bull could lose up to half a second per lap with their penalty

$7,000,000 dollars and 10% less time in the wind tunnel for Red Bull. The penalty is considered severe and even draconian for Christian Horner. The boss of the Austrian team has commented on the penalty that his team received after exceeding the budget limits in 2021.

The boss assures that this sanction will have significant effects on the performance of the Milton Keynes monoposts for the 2023 season. There has obviously been a debate about the sanction and its scope. It was delayed due to the sad news about Dietrich Mateschitz last weekend, but it was concluded earlier this week; we received a consequential penalty, both financially and sportingly, with the seven million dollars – it is a huge amount that is payable within 30 days.

Half a second per lap

Of course, the most draconian part is the sporting penalty, which is a 10% reduction in our ability to use our wind tunnel and aerodynamic tools. Today, I heard people saying that it’s a negligible amount. I can tell you that it’s a huge amount. It represents between a quarter and half a second per lap. This applies from now on – it has a direct impact on next year’s car and will be in effect for a twelve-month period, assures the British driver.

The director of the Austrian team adds that the championship leader status, this year, will accentuate the penalty. He indicates that his mechanics and engineers will have, in addition to a 10% reduction in time, a 5% delay compared to Ferrari and Mercedes, who are expected to finish in second and third place in the championship.

This gives an advantage to our competitors; that’s why they insisted so much for a draconian sanction. The FIA had other sporting penalties at its disposal, but our competitors obviously lobbied for this one because they thought it would hurt us the most. But I’m sure that even if they set fire to our wind tunnel, it wouldn’t be enough.